Great Altitude: Hazair Takes on One-of-a-Kind Isuzu Truck

 ‘I love a sunburnt country, a land of sweeping plains, of rugged mountain ranges, of droughts and flooding rains…’ Dorothea Mackellar’s great Australian poem My Country never fails to conjure a vivid picture of life on the land. 

It’s almost as if Dorothea had a birds-eye view of the country. 

From the wide skies of regional Victoria and New South Wales, the team at Hazair Pty Ltd also have a tale or two about the view from up high. ​ 

The family-owned company engages in a gamut of aerial-related activities, including aerial application for farmers such as seeding and spraying, aircraft hire, restoration and servicing, and training for the local flying school from their main base at Albury Airport. ​ 

Supporting operations are located at Holbrook and Corowa airports, and a base at Brockelsby helps to meet growing demand in the Riverina area of New South Wales. 

The business was first opened in 1960 by Margaret and Keith Death, with son Stephen Death following in his father’s footsteps as a pilot. ​ 

Stephen is now co-owner of Hazair, holding the titles of Chief Pilot & Engineer and overseeing their worldwide aircraft ferrying operations. His expertise in single and twin-engine piloting, over 40 years, has seen him cross 22 countries in every continent on the planet—aside from Antarctica. ​ 

Good things grow here 

Closer to home base in Albury, third-generation flyer Alexander Death, Stephen’s son and Line Pilot for Hazair, has been out “flying for as long as he can remember.” 

When the weather conditions are ideal, he’s up in a specialised Air Tractor 402 aircraft imported from the USA, purpose-built for aerial spraying and spreading. 

On a farm at Bowna, just northeast of Albury, Alex works to spread superphosphate over the hillsides to improve soil and grass quality for grazing stock. 

“Essentially, the super makes the grass grow better, which helps the cows grow better. ​ 

“That’s what we’re here to do—help feed Australia,” Stephen quipped with a smile. 

“Alex has about 800 litres of fuel on board, burning about 200 litres per hour, and around 1.5-tonnes of superphosphate loaded. 

“It’s an expensive operation, but for farmers with undulating terrain, it’s the most efficient way of getting the job done.” 

Keeping costs down 

With the livelihoods of local farmers on the line, ‘winging it’—so to speak—is never a viable option in the aviation industry. 

From pre-planned GPS-marked flight routes (accurate down to the metre) to software that assists the pilot in predicting the drift profile of materials, Hazair have been on a mission to make service more efficient. 

This extends to supporting ground equipment such as their new aircraft loader truck, which picks up materials such as superphosphate from the ground and loads it into the top hatch of the Air Tractor’s hopper. 

It sounds fairly simple. In reality, it’s a more complex prospect. 

The new loader, which replaces an older cab chassis truck that Hazair outfitted nearly 25 years ago, is a highly specialised Isuzu FVD 165-300 Auto with dual operator controls at opposite ends of the vehicle. 

In an extremely rare truck set-up, the front-end control is relatively standard, allowing for everyday on-road use. At the rear end, controls have been engineered to allow the operator to backload the aircraft using the on-board mechanical dipper and bucket, as well manoeuvre the truck concurrently from the same control point. ​ 

All in the details 

Engineering the new truck for optimal efficiency was a slow and detailed process, according to Stephen, although one made possible by Isuzu’s product capability and engineering nous—creating a bespoke build for this niche application. 

“When we looked at all the truck brands on the market, Isuzu was the easiest for us to modify because they already build dual-control waste trucks,” Stephen explained. 

“It has an electronic interface with everything we wanted: remote steering, remote throttle, remote braking and remote hydraulics in the back. 

“Blacklocks Isuzu were able to organise the interface and all the special parts and modifications we needed with the broader Isuzu engineering team.” 

In this case, the harmonious collaboration between body builder and vehicle supplier to work with the business at a local level has been key to delivering the best outcome. 

“The truck is a huge long-term investment for us—we went from a very manualised version of the truck to being mostly completely electronic, which is as you would expect in this day and age,” Stephen said. 

“It has come with its challenges, so there’s been a lot of liaising with the team at Blacklocks Isuzu. 

“They have been phenomenal keeping the build on track for us, which was critical for our costs.” 

Unique working solutions 

As Australia’s best-selling medium-duty truck, Isuzu F Series models are put to work in a variety of end-uses across the country. ​ 

Putting trust where many others do brings with it a solid sense of comfort, but in this case, it’s Isuzu’s demonstrated capability for developing a unique solution that is highly valuable. 

The beauty of the F Series for Hazair lies in its adaptability for a very unique application. ​ 

With a GVM of 16,500 kg and GCM of 32,000 kg, the FVD model slots comfortably into the mid-weight category. ​ 

It’s specified with Hendrickson rear airbag suspension and a 6-speed Allison 3000 automatic transmission, meaning material weight, along with the added weight of the second set of controls at the rear, is well accounted for on-road and in operation. 

“The comfort, speed and power of the truck are awesome,” said Stephen. 

“It’s quick, it’s efficient and it’s comfortable to drive for Dave Funnell (Ground Support Equipment Manager), so his fatigue levels have dropped off. 

“Most importantly he can get to-and-from the job efficiently, which is what we need because our work operates on an hourly basis. 

“For example, we’ve got 42 tonnes of super to spread here and then we’ll move on to another farm about 100 km further up the Murray River, so the actual saving in time getting from one job to another is immense.” 

Equipped for success 

Taking care of equipment is second nature for those in the aviation game, with strict servicing and inspections required at set time and date marks. 

Hazair carries over the practice of meticulously maintaining their airborne assets to their new ground support truck. 

They will be relying on the expertise of Blacklocks Isuzu service staff and technicians for all ongoing truck maintenance, Stephen noted. 

“Maintenance is a big thing in aviation, you can’t afford things to break or stop anywhere... we plan to run this truck for a good 25 years at this stage. 

“We look forward to it going for a long time to come—it does exactly what we need it to do. 

“If we needed to, we’d happily do exactly the same thing and buy the same truck again because we know it just works.”